Necessity is the Mother of Invention!

Have you ever used or applied the term "Necessity is the mother of invention"?

Have you had to move something unusual or out-of-the-ordinary and have to figure out a "new way" to do something?

If you have, people like you and my dad certainly understand "necessity is the mother of invention"!

My dad did not have a lot of fancy tools when he and mama first bought the acreage that is now Scurlock Farms, so due to many "necessities", he figured many "mothers of inventions" to get things done.

There was an old, dilapidated barn near the front yard of where mama and daddy wanted to build their dream home. From an aesthetics standpoint for mama, the barn could not stay where it was, nearly in the front yard - it had to go!

Daddy was going to need a barn and since he didn't waste anything, he wasn't about to tear that barn down!

In order to appease mama, daddy put that "necessity is the mother of invention" theory to work and figured out a way to move it about 1/4 mile down the drive to a new site, using only his tractor and a jack as real tools. It now sits nestled in a grove of large live oaks along the bluff.

Daddy jacked up the middle of the barn and cut long cedar posts from trees on the farm.

He put several of these under the floor of the barn. He then elevated the back end slightly, inserted more cedar post "rollers" and "rolled" it down the drive to its current location, using his "new" Farmall tractor.

Dan on Farmall

That poor old tractor was worn out when daddy got it, with many, many miles already on it and a hole in the floor, but boy was he proud of it!

Daddy would roll it along until the barn was almost off the cedar posts. He would then stop and reposition the cedar posts so he could roll on down the road some more.

Later daddy extended the roof 24" down the side of the barn to cover over a cement trough he built. The next year he got his tax notice and the county had upped the taxes considerably on the "improved, larger" barn.

Daddy went to the tax board to protest and told them he would tear it down before he paid more taxes on it. They relented and left the taxes where they had been.

Daddy WOULD have torn down the new addition. He was a man of principle and if he said he would or would not do something, he held to it.

The old barn site became mama and daddy's garden. Seeing produce growing was acceptable to mama and it was very handy to gather produce from!

Dan and I were childhood sweethearts and will celebrate our 53 anniversary in May. We moved to the country in 1971 and have loved raising our two boys on the farm. After my parents died, we acquired the 112 acre farm and bought the adjoining 60 acre farm. We now have 172 beautiful acres with a little over one mile of San Gabriel River frontage. We remodeled the three homes on the farm and have offered them as vacation rental homes since 2010. We have hosted guests from every state and 21 countries and have loved meeting many different people. We raise cattle, goats, hay and pecans on the farm and there is always something going on! I love giving tours of the farm to our guests in a Polaris and show them the river, animals, hiking areas and give a little history of the farm. Well behave pets are welcome and the owners and the pets love being able to be off-leash. Wildlife is abundant and guests love seeing deer, bobcat, fox, coyote, raccoon, possom, rabbits, skunks, and armadillo. The farm is a birder's delights with the varied terrains - prairie top pastures, wooded hillside and bluffs, heavily wooded areas, and the river wetlands. Many bird watchers have seen lifers while visiting (a bird they have never seen in person before). Roadrunners are a favorite! Our youngest son was only 6 weeks old when we moved to the farm and he has built a home along the bluff and raised his family here. Our oldest son owns a business in Dallas and when he retires, he will move back to the farm. Guests have loved fishing and tubing the river, looking for fossils, or simply skipping rocks and wading with their little ones. Others have enjoyed hiking the spring-fed creek bed, looking for arrowheads, and hiking about the 172 acres. Others have enjoyed sitting in the outdoor areas of the homes and soaking up the peace and quiet as they enjoy the beauty from the bluffs and watch the birds and wildlife that comes by.

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